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La Canzone dei Ricordi

Introduction

La Canzone dei Ricordi (‘The Song of Remembrance’) bears no opus number, but we know that Martucci was working on it from 1886. It is interesting to note that Mahler had then just completed his Songs of a Wayfarer, while his other song cycles were to come much later. It must also be said that to compose a cycle for voice and orchestra was an act of audacity in nineteenth-century Italy, where the main output for the voice was concerned almost solely with the stage and where vocal chamber music was neglected.

Although divided into seven parts, La Canzone dei Ricordi presents an admirable homogeneity and unity of inspiration. It expresses nostalgic dreams, regrets of days and things long gone. The first section can be considered as an introduction: the dreamer recalls … It is as delicate in its inspiration as in its orchestration. The second section evokes the colourful song of a stream: rippling muted strings suggest the continuous murmur of water, and playful woodwinds the soft breeze. The third, twice interrupted by the same refrain, is a serenade. Pizzicato strings and lively arabesques on the clarinet allude to a strumming guitar. The fourth is a sort of barcarolle portraying a little boat as it drifts away upon the sea, while Halcyons soar in the sky and Sirens sing mysterious songs. The fifth relates how, for a brief moment, the murmur of the breeze carries back lost illusions and deceptive hope for love. The sixth part is the longest and starts in a restless and sombre mood: the woods were witness to betrayed love. There is a sudden moment of brightness when a calmer section follows, taking over the melody stated by the orchestra at the very beginning of the piece. This is a song of regret and, at the same time, of thankfulness. The seventh part concludes the cycle in the same way it began, as the dreamer visualizes once more those lost days of love.

Recordings

'A praiseworthy achievement in every respect … Carol Madalin sings both works beautifully' (Gramophone)'A glorious work [and] a most lovely record. Recommended with all possible enthusiasm' (The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs)» More

No … the dreams didn’t fade away
and I yield and I surrender to their caresses:
I close my pensive eyes and once more
I see you in a cloud of spun gold!
You smile at me lovingly
and I pray my deep sorrows be laid to rest!
Once more I believe the sweet flattery;
I believe our sweet song of hope.
Here … I reach out my hands!
In my enraptured mind I exult
and a fire of yearning
burns in my veins!
But then … you pass like a cloud in the air
gradually to fade
on some distant horizon! …

Flower of Genista,
I am the pupil, you are the teacher.
Looking into your face, I learn everything:
you are the teacher and I am the pupil.
Such were the words of that sweet serenade,
such were the words of that melancholy serenade …
But you, was it looking into my face
that you learned how to forget?

Sweet Violet,
among all others a solitary soul is sorrowful:
on its path there shines no love nor hope.
Oh, lovely one, are we to travel the same road?

Such were the words of that sweet serenade,
such were the words of that melancholy serenade …

No … the dreams didn’t fade away
and I yield and I surrender to their sorrow,
I close my pensive eyes and once more
I see you in a cloud of spun gold.
But then … you pass in the air
to fade on some distant horizon! …